Jun

Oh another shop that I used is Powerhaus, are associated with Porsche brand however they do a lot of euro cars. However their rates are close to dealership, but I can say they are very good. Their wait times is in the months though. I had one long term weird problem with our Cayenne, Reuben had easily diagnosed it just a broken hose. While most shops turned down to diagnose it or assumed it to be a bigger repair bill. $70 fix. While they were at it, they also noticed somethings wasn't right with oil pressure. Unfortunately when I had the AOS replaced as preventative maintenance, the procedure was so easy that it was overlooked being incorrectly assembled by another mechanic. It's good to have a 2nd opinion also that mechanics are not 100% always correct then they can make mistakes. Highly recommend Powerhaus if you can wait for a long time as well as afford the above average rates... I certainly can't that is why I do some of the simple repairs myself.

Oh didn't know about this. I was planning to do a few more things with the M5 with Jon. @E28E30 Mike Page of Mike Page European (not Page European, that was the company he sold) at Paraparaumu is reputed to be the best BMW mechanic is Wellington. It's a bit of a drive, I only went there once for post sale inspection. Then all of my work was done by Jon of Auto 38. I know a few owners here despite Mike's location bring their cars there, Chris E46 M3 CSL from what I understand goes there on a trailer. If you want a honest and competent mechanic I use Cary Moore at Petone for my Skyline and Prado. Still a bit of a drive for me, but been using him over a decade. He isn't as obsessive as Jon, but does a good job. He doesn't do any big jobs (engine out, etc.), I think he is tired of his racing days of Skylines.

Better yet put up a real camera. These days the cameras are very capable (image recognition) and cheap for its price. Probably about a decade ago I would setup my own server, camera, etc. I am a bit older and I have deemed this to be low priority. My wife has been bugging me about it for years, we live on a relatively quiet cul de sac too. Everyone knows everybody, however things are getting been not so good for past few years. 1 of our neighbors was burglarized.... during the 1st lockdown last year some weirdo went to our property and my son confronted him. Gladly one of our neighbors suspected something wasn't right and was able to take the photo of person and car. Anyway this is a sample clip of the recently released Nest Camera (battery) https://store.google.com/nz/product/nest_cam_battery?hl=en-GB The image quality is ok, not the best but it's ability to sift through what is important and noise is very good and useful. Local AI image processing is super fast. Putting this up for a few hours and I will take it down (please don't share the link). Just to convince a few of you that spending a few $ and probably just 15 mins to install it is sure worth it. I have procrastinated on this, but I think best do it now while in lockdown. You can also see how crappy the SMG on low speed [edit: link removed]

Not sure, but rod bearing issues also existed on older M cars (S engines). However they aren't as prevalent as the S85 and S65, as their rod bearings have super thin tolerance, high revving engines, etc. As with any performance car like the M cars, always budget for things. This is easier said than done, I myself budgeted, etc. However when you are on that spot, for me it wasn't as easy. Good thing is that after doing the big jobs, it's slightly feels better. Having a community around the cars is definitely the best part of owning this eclectic cars.

No worries. Although my wife owns the faster cars: M5 and Cayenne she is a pretty slow driver. Usually only drives locally and brings my mom out on a good day.

@Michael. I have to agree with aja540i here. I have done really a lot of research before we bought our M5, there is no data that concludes the rod bearing will not wear if care it taken. It does help, but doesn't stop it. I saw one M5 owner who had done proper oil changes and adding ceratec for years. I can't recall from new, but definitely he had the car for a bit before he replaced the rod bearings. The rod bearings was in better shape, but definitely worn. It looked similar to ours, but a bit better. There are also those that have done 2nd rod bearing replacements by (forgot his name, but from what I read he has done in the several dozen rod bearing replacements). They are a tuning shop and have done lots of S85 and S65 tuning. They tried to also look at what happened on the 2nd set. He has recommended his customer to use a particular oil and lower viscosity. Initially some people told him that should not be done, but I think that particular oil is close to the original 10w60 Castrol when it's hot. In fact if that was easily available locally I would probably use that personally. You get a better cold viscosity and almost the same viscosity of the original Castrol oil. I think the 2nd rod bearings set showed better wear, but it didn't NOT stop it from being worn down. TLDR; rod bearing wear is part of the ownership of S65 and S85, but I think it is not as bad to what most people think. I wasn't planning to replace ours, my original plan was when it was close to 100k kms. But things went differently, long story... in the end it worked out better than I expected.

I think the lights was on, about a few hundred meters from the parking lot when car got picked up. Not something obvious especially when you think you are moving out of the cops way by entering a parking lot. Yes we do have a mobility card, my parents are really old and my mom also get a bad surgery on her hip. It's challenging for her to walk long distances. The Cayenne air suspension is really helpful for my mom, at the load height it works well... not too high or too low.

NZ S65/S85 rod bearing replacement (highest to lowest) @aja540i 160k kms @TermiPeteNZ 140k kms ??? @Jun 61k kms

When my wife got her Cayenne a few years ago. One of the first things she did was drive to the grocery with my parents. A police car picked up the Cayenne plate number near the grocery, my wife didn't really think it was them. So she continued to drive all the way and parked on the disability parking. Police car followed them all the way through and parked behind them. They where a bit shocked that the Police chased them through. My wife had a conversation with them, apparently the Cayenne has several bad records from the previous owners in Auckland. The officer double checked everything and apologized. They also updated their data to reflect the change of ownership. I guess my wife's story is a bit believable, also there are 2 old folks ridding in the car . Of course back when my parents where younger they can really weave into the traffic of Manila. Also I remember back in the 1980s my dad would drive an Opel Manta 2x the legal driving limit... not that this is enforced in our country

Pretty interesting video for high milage S65 and applicable for S85 engines as well Looking at the video, to be honest the rod bearings looks pretty good for its milage. 152k miles is 244k kms, even our 24 year old Prado doesn't have that milage. We replaced our S85 rod bearings about 61k kms, better condition but definitely beyond normal wear. Mechanical insurance paid the claim. I think @TermiPeteNZ maybe have the highest milage before rod bearing replacement? Anyone else had high milage before replacing their rod bearings? Maybe rod bearing issue is over-hyped?

Busy weekend, we took the car for a quick run. Went back home and my wife wanted to take a particular photo of her car. Turned out much better than we expected, after me fiddling with the phone photo.

Look at what oil you are using. Penrite 10w-60 is much thicker than Castrol 10w-60 at 100c. I noticed this when my mechanic used Penrite on our car. I was a bit puzzled at first, thinking something in the cooling system. I read on some M5 forums about how sensitive is the temp depending on the 100c viscosity. Also after seeing how thick Penrite is on 100c, I think was the thickest on spec sheet. I stopped using Penrite now my needle is about 2 ticks lower than 100, as opposed to the Penrite where it hugs the 100 mark normally. Neither goes over 100 when driven hard. It maybe something else, but it could be for you too.

Looking to buy broken S65 (E90 M3) or S85 (E60 M5) throttle actuators. Looking to do practice upgrade/repair on these throttle actuators. I like to practice on broken actuators, so when I upgrade mine I have enough experience to open and put things back together. Alternatively I can attempt to upgrade/repair your throttle actuator for free, just you pay for the parts (less than $100). No warranty or if can't repair your throttle actuator no bad feelings. I am doing repair it in good faith.

Welcome to the rod bearer club we hold our meetings every 50k to 100k kms, preferably nearer to 50k. As usually beyond 100k kms you get promoted to the connecting rod club. Yes the M button changes a bit, depending on your setting. Usually the P500S (not P500) will make the throttle response much sharper. The throttle body will now open 100% instead of 80-90% or something like that. The intake sound will be more apparent, that is what you actually hear more and not the exhaust on P500S. EDC will go level 2, to be honest that is too stiff for the public roads so my M button is only set level 1. It would also put the steering I believe on a stiff setting (not sure, I maybe wrong but I do feel it). DSC will go to M Dynamic Mode (in theory car will slip, but assist enough). The archaic HUD changes to rpm (not really useful, seems slow and better to look at the real tach) but looks fun. It all depends on what you have M button set to, these are the supposed defaults.... oh yeah I forgot (this feature goes old after 1 time use) the seat bolster will move (delayed) when you turn on M mode.... I feel this is unsafe feature. Imagine turning on M-mode for the first time, go into a corner first time... and suddenly the seats move?!? I wish there as a P400S or something, 500 HP on public roads is over kill and not as enjoyable as lower powered car. This also means less time on the upper range of the revs (it becomes a different car past 6,000 rpm). Yes I have never used S6, I feel really bad when the car is already on S5. I have now learned to slightly back-off after the up shift, just before it engages the next gear and step on it after the gear is engaged. Significantly makes the shift smoother in S3 to S5, and makes driving more engaging. Another trick I learned from an owner at Christchurch, is just use the auto S1 (default, was super annoyed by this before) for the warm up. It's great for this use case, as it's super aggressive in shifting up engine hardly touches 2,000 rpm. Hope to see photos of your car, E61 is not something we usually see often.

I run RE-003 on my R34 Skyline. They work well on spirited driving, sorry no track experience. Data shows its ok on track. It stops well on wet conditions, it's the most comfortable set we had. Previous set are Goodyear F1 GSD3, Bridgestone R001. The improvements it's a lot more quiet and comfortable. It seems to also wear a lot better, so I might actually have to sell and dispose the tires after 10 years from manufacturing. I think most tires these days are pretty good. I just go with the tires that has some data and reviews. And get the best deal I can get, make sure I got the tyre type I need. Brand and model will come 2ndary. This is an interesting video/article about this topic: https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/How-bad-can-tyres-make-a-car-Premium-VS-budget-tyres-tested.htm Also look at getting tires shipped from Auckland, I did it once. It was a good experience. I only did as the rims I wanted was sold in Auckland, got Hyper Drive to ship the rims fitted as free shipping. Eventually sold the rims and tires after a few years the same price I purchased it, so it was pretty good.

Michelin PS 4 maybe cheaper. That maybe my next set, but I am happy with the Bridgestone S001 it currently has. Below is 4 vs 4s vs cup 2. I think realistically I don't track the car, 4 is the more appropriate tyre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMv64liOqIE But I go for the cheapest Bridgestone, Goodyear or Michelin. So far for the past few years Tony tires always has given me the best deal for our old cars. I also like their tyre insurance, have used 2x already in the past decade. Since Tony tires has been bought by Bridgestone, that means all our tyres are now Bridgestone. But sometimes I deviate from their offering, using Cooper tyres on our Cayenne as there is no comparable AT tyre available in Bridgestone.

Better yet @martyyyn needs to bring it on the next meetup Curios to hear who has the S85 that sounds the most diesel like on idle

Hehehe, it would sound great, but I think Race will be too noisy for me too.

Welcome to the Rod Bearer Anonymous group If it's Eisenmann Sport (not Race) I might be interested on it, especially if you can easily put back your originals (I want a revert back again). Sometimes I find the E60 to be too quiet, but other times I like it quiet. Maybe those flip switch exhaust cutout will be more suited for me. I do like those Eisenmann tips shape, we have a factory fitted Eisenmann on our Cayenne... would be cool to have octo Eisenmann exhaust tips on the driveway

Yes and no. If I get the under body plates for the Cayenne (people are making them now), it's actually more protected than the Prado. The underbody is flat, diff and transfer case is high up. Ground clearance, approach angle, break-over angle and departure angle of the Cayenne when in high air suspension is actually better than a non-lifted Prado. Gen 1 Cayenne/Touareg are actually not too complicated, but yet definitely can't be repaired by a farmer or Taliban. On recovery, the rear of the Cayenne is actually better than the Prado. I can put a bow shackle on the rear tow bar which will be rated substantially more than the Prado. However there is no rated recovery point on the front the Cayenne, so I have an equalizer strap and use 2 tow hitches (unrated, however people use this... unofficially rated for 2T each point) What is stopping me from turning the Cayenne into a real off-roader it's our most daily driven car. It's also the most comfortable especially for our old folks. I need to eventually buy a normal car for daily driving... but I don't drive daily. What the Prado is great is aside from the simplicity is that after market support. Since it's old Prado feels like a jeep/truck, Cayenne is like a large fat rally car. That Q7 V12 TDI would make a ridiculous project off-roader but 50k is too expensive.

It's becoming really hard to talk to the insurance for the past few years... I had to keep on bumping up our insurance... explaining the the customer service. Telling them that a Nissan is the most expensive car... more than the BMW. Oh the Porsche, that is crap has no value.... Now this is depending on the customer service you get for the year. Last year I just move insurance company because the under writer can't understand that a 2005 M5 is the same car as a 2006 M5. I have only asked 1 time for a valuation from a dealer, so far the other years they are just ok with looking at Trademe or autorader. They would just match the price. Any other luck getting correct insurance coverage aside from going the classic cars insurance?

Yes I though the V10 Touareg was already a bad headache, hence I gone for the slightly less headache V8 Cayenne. What I didn't realize is that Q7 had a V12 TDI, I didn't know about this Q7 until about a few weeks ago. But I think Q7 V12 would be the ultimate money pit.

Gen1 Cayenne, Touareg and smaller extend Q7 (longer wheelbase) is actually very good off-road. Gen1 had proper low gear transfer cases. With very little mods, proper tires and small lift kit makes them really good. Although I haven't use our Cayenne is really hard tracks, just the minor ones it does better than our stock Prado. Here is a 2-inch lift and 35" tires only mod Cayenne S, no other mods. There are also Cayenne's with rare optioned out rear-lockers and detachable sway bars, only 1 in NZ. Although I doubt the Q7 will have rear lockers, however the TDI will more than make up for it.

@leichtbau unfortunately it seems this can't be an option One thing to note most if not all NZ New actually is not as optioned out compared to import models.

Anyone looking at this potential monster? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/audi/q7/listing/3145186845 We have a V8 Cayenne, they are great cars both on and off-road. I guess V12 is a natural addition for V8 and V10 cars This truck even has carbon ceramic brakes. I think the issue with this truck will be the servicing. V10 6.0 engine, tranny, etc I am unsure who will be interested in serving this. Q7 is Cayenne sister car, but longer wheelbase. That means maybe some of the Cayenne off-road mods will work. However it will have to run 20" wheels to fit the large front disks. But there are now lots of 285/50R20 A/T tires now. Recovering a Land Cruiser with 1000 Nm diesel torque Audi will be a ridiculous scenario.